When we came out of Quancheng Hotel, the atmosphere was much more lively because everyone had drank some wine.
Xun Shifei smiled and said: "Dean Li, please stay at the National Hotel today. We will leave for Xizhou early tomorrow morning."
"Okay. Then go to bed early."
"Good night."
“…”
After returning to their residence, Jia Liping and Yuan Bing walked in together as soon as they finished washing up.
"sit,"
Li Zhen wiped his still wet hair with a towel and said casually.
Jia Liping didn't see anyone outside, poured water for himself, and then sat there quietly waiting for Li Zhen.
It can be seen that Yuan Bing is a little nervous and uneasy. He was still holding a document in his hand.
Li Zhen took a sip of tea and asked, "Tell me."
Yuan Bing said with some anxiety: "Master Li, this is the specific situation in Xizhou. You..."
"I won't read it. Tell me."
"yes."
Yuan Bing cleared his throat and said: "Xizhou has a total population of 42 million. The annual fiscal revenue converted into gold coupons is 50 million. Among them, 30 million is used for infrastructure construction. The balance is 20 million. Ten million of it was turned over to the national treasury. Only ten million was used by Xizhou’s finance.”
Li Zhen nodded: "How much funds can be used by Dongzhou in a year?"
"Dongzhou's available funds per year are 260 million."
Li Zhen asked again: "Where is Nanzhou?"
Jia Liping answered: "Nanzhou's annual income is 120 million."
Li Zhen sighed: "Xizhou is poor."
"Yeah. Poor."
Jia Liping and Yuan Bing also sighed.
There's nothing we can do about it.
West State has no output.
There is no tourism industry and no convenient transportation. The land suitable for sowing is also limited, and land desertification is even more severe than in southeastern states.
This is the main factor causing poverty in Xizhou.
Li Zhen asked: "So how many kilograms of grain does Xizhou produce per year now?"
“Xizhou’s total annual grain output is 90 million kilograms.”
Li Zhen frowned: "There are more than 40 million people, and the annual grain production is 90 million kilograms. This is not enough."
"Yes. So most of Xizhou's annual funds are actually used to import grain from other states."
Li Zhen thought for a while and said:
"This is a vicious cycle. If this continues, Xizhou will become poorer and poorer, and all the money will be used to buy food. It will not be able to make ends meet, and the industry will not be developed enough."
"Yes, who says it's not?"
"Some time ago, Xizhou tried to imitate Dongzhou's industrialization, but failed."
Li Zhen asked: "What was the reason for the failure?"
"The reason for the failure is that the purchase intensity of gold coupons was too small."
Li Zhen was confused: "What is going on?"
"Master Li may not understand the specific situation in Xizhou. Generally speaking, it is food, not money. Whether it is Jiuzhou coins or the 10,000-year gold coupons that are vigorously promoted, they are actually somewhat unworkable in Xizhou. People eat If you don’t have a full stomach, you can’t buy food in the market, or the price of food is extremely high, your currency is just a piece of paper.”
Jia Liping calmly analyzed: "There are even more black-hearted capitalists who buy large quantities of grain from fertile lands and transfer it to Xizhou to sell it twice as much. Using this to resell the grain makes Xizhou obviously short of food, but the price of grain is extremely high in the country. Phenomenon."
Li Zhen took a sip of tea and said: "To control the reselling of grain by capitalists, dealing with this problem is to treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Yuan Bing chose to conduct a pilot program of comprehensive sowing of hybrid rice in Xizhou this time. The local choice was very good. Only by allowing Xizhou to secede The phenomenon of poverty and hunger. Other problems will be solved easily. Get rid of hunger first, and then industrialize when the purchasing power of money increases. Xizhou will take advantage of the trend. As for the transportation problem, it is a matter of the country's overall layout, but there is no need to consider it now. "
"Yes, Master Li. So this investigation and visit to Xizhou is a very important opportunity. We must have a deep understanding of the people's sentiments in Xizhou, visit the grassroots in depth, and be aware of it. Only in this way can we comprehensively carry out food replacement in Xizhou plan. The most important issue, I think, is to resolve the distrust of the people."
Li Zhen asked: "How do you say this?"
Yuan Bing frowned and said: "Farmers with grain fields in Xizhou regard grain fields as their lifeblood. They are used to sowing the same kind of rice as before, and they will leave the seeds at home every year and continue to sow the next year. Very soon. It’s hard to accept a new kind of rice for them to grow.”
"why is that?"
"Because of cognitive issues. If they sow new rice, they will feel that they are taking risks. If the next year does not succeed, or the yield is less than before, the whole family will suffer. Accepting new things requires a lot of risk. It’s a risk, but with the old stuff, it’s the same as in previous years.”
Jia Liping answered: "The government's question is naturally just one sentence. The key depends on the attitude of the people. If they accept hybrid rice, then next year's Xizhou will be another Xizhou. If they don't accept it, there is nothing you can do about it."
Li Zhen nodded. He somewhat understood the thoughts of the people in Xizhou.
It cannot be said that this is a wrong idea.
It just means that what they have now is too precious to them, and they don't dare to take the risk to accept new things. Who knows what the new stuff will be like
Li Zhen was a little worried, fearing that everything would be ready by then. As a result, when it was time to sow rice, most people violated the policy and secretly sown old rice.
This kind of problem is difficult to eliminate.
The government's pressure on the people is pressure. If there are policies from above, there will be countermeasures from below. Some ordinary people are going to go against you and openly promise you to accept the seeds you provide. But when sowing, if you secretly plant old seeds in the ground, who would you know
When it was harvested, the truth became clear. But by then it was too late.
Li Zhen rubbed his temples with a headache: "Let's do this for tonight."
"Master Li, take your leave."
“…”
The next day, early in the morning. Li Zhen woke up from his sleep, still recalling the scene of Zhang Zhi being intimate with him.
There was a knock on the door: "Master Li, it's time to set off."
"knew."
“…”
After washing up, Li Zhen walked out of the room. Dozens of people had been waiting quietly outside the door for a long time.
Surrounded by Li Zhen, they entered the restaurant and had a sumptuous breakfast. Several black cars arrived downstairs, and an energetic Xun Shifei came up: "Dean Li, are you ready?"
Li Zhen finished a mouthful of millet porridge and wiped his mouth: "Let's go."
Xun Shifei and Li Zhen walked side by side, half a step behind. As they walked down, they said, "This time we are going to divide our troops into two groups."
"Why are the troops divided into two groups?"
"Because there are really more people going this time, they need to carry more things. For safety reasons, some people have to go to Xizhou by land. And I will take the airship to go first. Dean Li is going to take a few people with him. Airships? It’s not good to have too many airships. This time, a total of twenty airships were dispatched, only ten of which could seat people. The other ten were for backup, carrying supplies, etc. After all, the country was more concerned with safety considerations for this trip. There are a lot of them.”
"Understand, understand."
Turning around, Li Zhen said, "Liping and Yuan Bing come with me, and Qi Lengzi will follow. Ding Zhenzhen, take the rest of the people by land."
"Yes, Master Li."
“…”
(End of chapter)